Amazon Books

The first location in Seattle had approximately 5,000 titles stocked on its bookshelves, using shelf space to display the covers of books facing outwards instead of spines; according to Amazon, the decision was made to showcase the authors and their work, rather than efficient use of space. The shelves displayed positive reviews and star-ratings from the Amazon.com website and prices were matched to online equivalents.{{cite news |last=Greene |first=Jay |date=November 2, 2015 |title=Amazon opening its first real bookstore — at U-Village |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/amazon/amazon-opens-first-bricks-and-mortar-bookstore-at-u-village/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=February 2, 2016}}{{cite news |last=McGreal |first=Chris |date=November 5, 2015 |title=Amazon boldly goes where no internet bookseller has gone before: the real world |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/05/amazon-book-store-seattle |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=February 2, 2016}}

The store also sold Amazon electronics, including the Amazon Kindle e-book reader, the Kindle Fire tablet series, the Amazon Echo, and the Amazon Fire TV.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/amazonbooks|title=Amazon Books|publisher=Amazon.com|access-date=November 2, 2017}} Two locations of Amazon Books had a cafe.

The first Amazon Books store opened on November 2, 2015, located at the University shopping center in Seattle, Washington. The store has been described as the first permanent store from Amazon,{{cite news |last=Kastrenakes |first=Jacob |date=November 2, 2015 |title=Amazon is opening its first physical bookstore today |url=https://www.theverge.com/2015/11/2/9661556/amazon-books-first-physical-bookstore-opening-seattle |work=The Verge |access-date=February 2, 2016}} who opened pop-up shops and pickup outlets on several university campuses in 2015.{{cite news |last=Stewart |first=Janine |date=October 14, 2015 |title=Here's where Amazon's next brick-and-mortar store will be |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/blog/techflash/2015/10/heres-where-amazons-next-brick-and-mortar-store.html |work=Puget Sound Business Journal |access-date=February 2, 2016}} In February 2016, tech news website Re/code reported that longtime Amazon executive Steve Kessel was leading the retail store initiative, having previously been part of the team to launch the first Amazon Kindle e-reader.{{cite news |last=Del Ray |first=Jason |date=February 3, 2016 |title=Meet the Guy Behind Amazon's Secret Retail Store Plans |url=http://recode.net/2016/02/03/meet-the-guy-behind-amazons-secret-retail-store-plans/ |work=Re/code |access-date=February 11, 2016}} During development of the project, it was referred to as "Project Anne" in filings with the city.{{cite news |last=Lerman |first=Rachel |date=October 8, 2015 |title=U Village rumors fly that Amazon bookstore is coming |url=http://www.seattletimes.com/business/technology/u-village-rumors-fly-that-amazon-bookstore-is-coming/ |newspaper=The Seattle Times |access-date=July 10, 2016}}

File:Amazon Books at Washington Square - Tigard, Oregon (2017).jpg mall in the Portland metropolitan area.]]

On February 2, 2016, a CEO of a shopping center owner claimed that Amazon planned to open as many as 400 bookstores;{{cite news |last=Bensinger |first=Greg |date=February 2, 2016 |title=Amazon Plans Hundreds of Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores, Mall CEO Says |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-plans-hundreds-of-brick-and-mortar-bookstores-mall-ceo-says-1454449475 |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=February 2, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Machkovech |first=Sam |date=February 2, 2016 |title=Mall CEO claims Amazon Books will open up to 400 physical storefronts |url=https://arstechnica.com/business/2016/02/mall-ceo-claims-amazon-books-will-open-up-to-400-physical-storefronts/ |work=Ars Technica |access-date=February 2, 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Mihalcik |first1=Carrie |last2=Rubin |first2=Ben Fox |date=February 2, 2016 |title=Amazon's novel idea: Physical bookstores |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/amazons-novel-idea-physical-bookstores/ |work=CNET |access-date=February 2, 2016}} the statement was retracted by the company the following day.{{cite news |last=Weise |first=Elizabeth |date=February 3, 2016 |title=Mall owner backtracks from Amazon bookstore statement |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/02/03/amazon-bookstore-rumors-hit-barnes-noble-stock/79759040/ |work=USA Today |access-date=February 11, 2016}}

Amazon Books' second store opened on September 7, 2016, in San Diego, California,.{{cite news |last=Van Grove |first=Jennifer |date=September 14, 2016 |title=Amazon Books opens in San Diego |url=http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/ecommerce/sd-fi-amazonbooks-utc-20160914-story.html |work=The San Diego Union-Tribune |access-date=October 8, 2016}} It was followed by openings at Washington Square near Portland, Oregon,{{cite news |last=Marum |first=Anna |date=October 24, 2016 |title=Amazon's bookstore at Washington Square: Exclusive sneak peek |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/window-shop/index.ssf/2016/10/amazon_books_washington_square.html |work=The Oregonian |access-date=March 21, 2017}} Legacy Place in Dedham, Massachusetts,{{cite news |last=Hilliard |first=John |date=February 26, 2017 |title=Amazon gives customers a peek at its first Mass. bookstore |url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/02/25/amazon-opens-its-first-bay-state-bookstore-dedham/9VlA98G0hBzHHipn8RYVVN/story.html |work=The Boston Globe |access-date=March 8, 2017}} Chicago, New York City, and Paramus, New Jersey. Other stores in New York City, Bellevue, Washington, Atlanta, Georgia, Pacific Palisades (Los Angeles) were expected to open between 2017 and 2019.{{cite news |last=Zumbach |first=Lauren |date=August 25, 2016 |title=Amazon plans to open a Chicago bookstore in Lakeview |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-amazon-bookstore-southport-0826-biz-20160825-story.html |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=August 28, 2016}}{{cite news |last=Gould |first=Jennifer |date=July 3, 2016 |title=Amazon set to rival NYC's bookstores with Hudson Yards spot |url=https://nypost.com/2016/07/03/amazon-set-to-rival-nycs-bookstores-with-hudson-yards-spot/ |newspaper=New York Post |access-date=July 10, 2016}}{{cite news |last=McMurtrie |first=John |date=February 14, 2017 |title=Amazon to open bookstore in Bay Area|url=http://www.sfgate.com/books/article/Amazon-to-open-bookstore-in-Bay-Area-10930421.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=February 15, 2016}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-caruso-palisades-20180313-story.html|title=Amazon Books heading to Pacific Palisades as new village center takes shape|website=Los Angeles Times|date=March 13, 2018}}

In November 2016, Amazon Books began charging non-Amazon Prime members a separate price for books and other non-electronic products, while Amazon Prime members retained the online price-matched rate.{{cite news |last=Soper |first=Taylor |date=November 1, 2016 |title=Amazon charges non-Prime members more at physical bookstores, hinting at new retail strategy |url=http://www.geekwire.com/2016/amazon-gives-prime-members-better-prices-physical-bookstores-hinting-new-retail-strategy/ |work=GeekWire |access-date=November 1, 2016}}

On March 2, 2022, it was reported that all Amazon Books would close. In addition to the bookstores, Amazon will close its 4-star and pop up stores on various dates in the future.

Local bookstores in the Seattle area described wariness over the physical presence of Amazon.com, with the University Book Store in the U District noting "different spending patterns" two months after the opening of Amazon's store; an Amazon spokesperson dismissed the notion that Amazon Books would interfere with independent bookstores and their operations, stating that "offline retail is a big space with room for lots of winners."{{cite news |last=Wong |first=Julia Carrie |author-link=Julia Carrie Wong |date=January 21, 2016 |title=Seattle bookstores face new threat from Amazon: a brick-and-mortar location |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jan/21/amazon-books-opens-seattle-independent-bookstores |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=February 2, 2016}} The executive vice president of Half Price Books, a national chain of new and used bookstores, saw the interest that Amazon is showing in expanding brick-and-mortar bookstores as something good for the industry, stating in February 2016 that it was a sign that the "printed word isn't dead."{{cite news |last=Halkias |first=Maria |date=February 3, 2016 |title=What Dallas-based Half Price Books has to say about Amazon opening bookstores: Print is alive |url=http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2016/02/what-dallas-based-half-price-books-has-to-say-about-amazon-opening-bookstores-print-is-alive.html/ |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |access-date=February 11, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160613150831/http://bizbeatblog.dallasnews.com/2016/02/what-dallas-based-half-price-books-has-to-say-about-amazon-opening-bookstores-print-is-alive.html/ |archive-date=June 13, 2016 |url-status=dead }}

After the announcement of a third store in Portland, Oregon, CEO Miriam Sontz of local bookstore Powell's Books stated that Amazon's move to open physical stores was an acknowledgement that "something special occurs in a physical bookstore that is not replicable online" and that Portland was "filled with book lovers and book buyers", quoting bank robber Willie Sutton's quip that he targeted banks "because that's where the money is."{{cite news |last=Cook |first=John |date=June 17, 2016 |title=Amazon venturing onto Powell's home turf, picks Portland for third brick-and-mortar bookstore |url=http://www.geekwire.com/2016/amazon-ventures-onto-home-turf-powells-plans-third-brick-mortar-bookstore-portland/ |work=GeekWire |access-date=June 17, 2016}}

The New Yorker, covering the first New York City store opening at Columbus Circle, called it in a headline "Not Built for People Who Actually Read," continuing to say the store is "designed to further popularize, on Amazon, that which is already popular on Amazon."{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/amazons-brick-and-mortar-bookstores-are-not-built-for-people-who-actually-read|title=Amazon's Brick-and-Mortar Bookstores Are Not Built for People Who Actually Read|last=Tolentino|first=Jia|author-link=Jia Tolentino |date=May 30, 2017|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=April 24, 2018 |language=en|issn=0028-792X}} The store resembles its online marketplace, with signs such as "Most-Wished For on Amazon.com" and bestseller category rankings. Kyle Chayka described Amazon Books as "the opposite of independent bookstores" and that it was "driven wholly by the market and whatever provoked attention".{{cite book |last1=Chayka |first1=Kyle |title=Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture |date=2024 |publisher=Penguin Random House |isbn=9780593466797 |pages=43-45}}

{{reflist|30em}}

{{Portal|Books}}

• {{official website|URL=https://www.amazon.com/b/?node=13270229011}}

{{Bookstore Chains}}

{{Amazon}}

Category:Chain bookstores of the United States

Category:Bookstores in Manhattan

Category:Amazon (company)

Category:Defunct companies based in Seattle

Category:American companies established in 2015

Category:Bookstores established in the 21st century

Category:Retail companies established in 2015

Category:2015 establishments in Washington (state)